NATO Secretary General: Several Turkish Military Personnel Seeking Asylum

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that since the failed coup in Turkey this summer, several Turkish officers serving in NATO command positions have applied for asylum. At the same time, Germany reported that several thousand Turkish citizens have sought asylum in the country in recent months. In a report on Friday, November 18, 2023, the French news agency quoted Stoltenberg as saying that some Turkish officers who have collaborated with NATO's command structure have applied for asylum in the countries where they are serving. Stoltenberg made these remarks during a security conference in Brussels, noting that NATO has made changes in its command structure that have affected some Turkish personnel. He also mentioned that decisions regarding the asylum requests of Turkish officers will be made by the countries receiving the applications, not NATO's headquarters. Stoltenberg did not specify the number of Turkish officers seeking asylum or the countries where these requests have been made. Since the failed coup in Turkey this summer, over 37,000 people, particularly in various judicial, military, security, government, and police sectors, have been detained, and more than 100,000 have been suspended or dismissed from their jobs. Just two weeks ago, Turkey dismissed over 1,200 military personnel from the gendarmerie, more than 400 of whom were from command positions. On Friday, another report from the French news agency cited the German Office for Migration and Refugees, stating that in the past year, over 4,400 Turkish citizens have registered asylum applications in Germany, more than double the number from the previous year. In 2015, over 1,760 Turkish citizens sought asylum in Germany. The number of Turkish asylum seekers in Germany has significantly increased, especially since July when the failed military coup occurred, rising from 275 in July to 485 in October. In this context, Stefan Meyer, a conservative representative and head of the Internal Affairs Committee of the German Parliament, criticized the country's diplomatic policies regarding migrant acceptance and predicted that the trend of Turkish citizens applying for political asylum in Germany would increase. On Friday, the Associated Press also reported that 76 university professors at a university in Istanbul were arrested as part of ongoing investigations related to the July coup. The state news agency Anadolu reported that arrest warrants had been issued for 103 staff members of Yildiz Technical University on charges of 'membership in an armed terrorist organization,' and police arrested 73 individuals after inspecting the university on Friday morning. Shortly after, police arrested two more individuals in Istanbul and one in Ankara in connection with the same case. Additionally, over 10,000 others in Turkey have been dismissed in connection with the coup, and thousands of Turkish police have been suspended from service on charges of connection to the coup. The purges following the Turkish coup reached the 'National Intelligence Organization.' Turkish officials have dismissed hundreds of military personnel and shut down over 130 media outlets. Erdogan declared a state of emergency in Turkey for three months.